Stacked Network Device as Precision Time Protocol Boundary Clock

2. The network device of claim 1, wherein the network device is configured to function as a single virtual device to external network devices in the network.

3. The network device of claim 1, wherein the network device is configured to operate as a boundary clock device of a network operating according to PTP.

4. The network device of claim 1, wherein the PTP follower port of the first member node is a Link Aggregation Group (LAG) port or dual Routed Only Ports (ROPs).

7. The network device of claim 5, wherein the standby PTP follower port of the standby member node is a Link Aggregation Group (LAG) port or dual Routed Only Ports (ROPs).

8. The network device of claim 5, wherein the standby member node is configured to activate a connection between the standby PTP follower port of the standby member node and an external device upstream from the network device upon detecting that the fault has occurred in the first member node.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the respective second external data packets include an address corresponding to the stacked network device as a whole.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the stacked network device is a boundary clock device of a network operating according to PTP.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the primary member node and the plurality of secondary member nodes form one of a chain topology or a ring topology.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first external data packet and the second external data packet correspond to a first PTP instance, and wherein the internal data packets correspond to a second PTP instance.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the respective second external data packets include an address corresponding to the network device as a whole.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the network device is a boundary clock device of a network operating according to PTP.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the primary member node and the plurality of secondary member nodes form one of a chain topology or a ring topology.